INTERVIEW WITH CONGRESSMAN FRANK

By Anatol ZUKERMAN

Barney Frank - Congressman from the State of Massachusetts in the House of Representatives of the United States. Mr. Frank represents the interests of the left wing of the America's Democratic Party. Until recently he was Chairman of the congressional finance committee. For a long time he tried (and is still trying) to establish governmental control over the manipulations of the financial market. Mr. Frank appeals to the reduction of military budget and the increase of the subsidies for education, science and construction.

After the mortgage crisis of 2008 many Republicans accused Frank in encouraging banks to distribute more loans to more people who wanted to buy houses. Indeed, Frank encouraged such loans but could not pull a bill through the Republican-dominated Congress to control the financial manipulations of enterprising banks. As we know, those loans were one of the causes of the crisis. The American banks issued loans to trusting homeowners but then raised the interest percentages and re-sold the loans to other corporations that raised the interests even higher without the consent and knowledge of the homeowners.

As a result, during many years of such manipulations this country and, indeed, the entire world collected a colossal debt of everybody to everybody - and the homeowners lost their investment and their homes that they have occupied because they could not afford to pay the raised interest percentages. In the end, the financial institutions themselves like Goldman-Sacks were bankrupted and asked the government to bail them out. Thus, the taxpayers of the USA had to pay taxes to bail out the same banks that victimized them!

All that mess had fallen into the laps of President Obama, Congressman Frank and company. There was no choice: they had to bail out the banks in order to avoid the total crash of the financial system. Obviously, the private financial dealers and the Bush's government whom they influenced with their lobbying, counted on this scenario. Then, the Republicans accused the Democrats of bailing out the bankrupt banks. The majority of the voters could not tell heads from tails in those extremely complicated financial arguments - and the United States split into two belligerent camps.

From the right went the most incredible accusations of Obama and Frank. During the latter's election campaign a woman asked Barney Frank why he supported the Obama's policy that, in her opinion, resembled that of Hitler. Frank answered the question with the question: "On what planet do you spend most of your time, madam?" and added that he, as a Jew, deplores the equation of Obama and Hitler.

In connection with all of the latter, I asked the Congressman, whose office is located in our City of Newton, several questions. First, he called me with short responses and later sent me a written statement. Below see my translation of it into Russian.

(See the quotes from Congressman Frank's answer)

In turn, I want to note that I don't agree with Frank's answers to my first two questions. I continue to receive the comparisons of Obama to Hitler not only from the Larouche's group but also from the Republican ultra-conservatives, including our immigrants who blindly repeat the chanting of their ideologues. The spotted biography of Lyndon Larouche is full of attacks on Jews and Catholics. In 1976 his labor Party accused the Zionists and other Jewish groups of a conspiracy against the world. Larouche established the Committee of Purging B'nai Brith and the Defamation League. His group distributed brochures that accused Jews of herding medical supplies, etc. A long list of Larouche's activities that include an imprisonment can be read on the Internet.

The character of Glenn Beck is much simpler - he's a rude demagogue who speaks on the Fox radio as a average citizen, playing the role of a salt-of-the-earth man expounding the truth. Actually, he speaks more lies than truths. For example, Beck accused Vice President Gore of anti-Semitism only because Gore supported the globalization of economy and information (?). Scandalous quotations from Beck's speeches have long outraged common-sense people. Below are a few of those:

"If you have a priest that is pushing social justice, go find another parish. Go alert your bishop.""It's not just spending, it's not just taxes, it's not just corruption, it is progressivism, and it is in both parties. It is in the Republicans and the Democrats." "I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it." (Michael Moore is a progressive film director).

As they say, comments are not necessary. Ostensibly, Beck supports Israel but this support relates only to the extreme right wing of Israel's politics. The majority of Israelites don't need the support of this psychopath.

Conducted and translated from English into Russian and from Russian into English by Anatol Zukerman